Contact: Eileen Thomas
Executive Director
River City Community Services
916.446.2627, x3001, rccsa@sbcglobal.net
http://www.rivercitycommunityservices.org/
For immediate release
FOOD CLOSET THAT SERVES SACRAMENTO COUNTY HUNGRY
ISSUES URGENT APPEAL DUE TO NEARLY 40% INCREASE IN
4th QUARTER NEED COMPARED TO PRIOR YEAR
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) – River City Community Services, a 501(c)(3) charity founded in 1968 to serve anyone in need in Sacramento County, today issued a special appeal for cash donations, recognizing a dramatic 39.4 percent in increase in the number of people who sought food assistance during October, November and December of this year, compared to the year prior. Compounding the challenge, many bulk food stuffs that have previously been donated now must be purchased, increasing the agency’s food expenses by approximately 35 percent during the same 4th quarter period.
“A 40 percent increase in demand, added to a 35 percent increase in supply costs, creates a major financial gap for a small organization like this one. Many families are having a rough time making ends meet, and we want to be there for them,” said Ernie Lewis, M.D., president of the board for River City Community Services.
The agency also saw an increase in food assistance for children. While about a third of meals have been provided for children in past years, nearly 40% were for children in the fourth quarter of this year (39.2%).
“Most of those who come to us are working, but if anything goes wrong, they find themselves having to choose between paying bills for the basics, like utilities, and buying food,” Lewis explained.
By the end of December, an estimated 9,400 people will have come to River City Community Services (RCCS) for emergency three-day food supplies compared to 6,743 during the last three months of the year in 2006.
“We’ve heard from so many people about their increased living expenses who are trying to feed their families. For example, a mother of five came in for the first time in November after her husband was laid off. She had been trying to make ends meet by working two jobs, but then they had a problem with their car. She didn’t have enough money to pay rent in full until late November, and was short on money for food,” said Eileen Thomas, executive director of the organization.
A recent Brookings Institution study found that over half (55%) of lower-income households held debt, and one quarter of these borrowers spend more than 40% of their income just servicing debt (http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2007/0511metropolitanpolicy_fellowes.aspx).
RCCS, a non-profit organization that provides food and emergency housing aid to anyone in need in Sacramento County, serves approximately a quarter of the estimated 75,000 adults in the Sacramento area who aren’t sure how they will get the food they need. Its mission is to provide compassionate assistance, nutritionally-balanced emergency food, crisis housing aid, and hope to people working toward self-reliance. RCCS is the only Sacramento food outreach program that serves all of Sacramento County and that provides nutritional counseling in addition to food supplies. It is also unusual for its provision of frozen meat or protein. Most of the small organization’s manpower comes from volunteers, who donate more than 11,000 hours of service each year, with only two paid positions -- a part-time executive director and part-time program manager.
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